Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electrically powering movable objects when they are stationary, and in particular a ship alongside a quay. Specifically, for ecological or economic reasons, it is more and more appropriate to make it possible to exchange electricity between ships in port and land, either to avoid pollution from their onboard power generators, or else to recharge their electricity storage capabilities, for a ship that is electrically propelled or hybrid.
Brief Discussion of the Related Art
A first approach is to use manual connectors that the crew or port personnel handle in order to set up the connection, possibly assisted by systems such as cranes or hoists in order to carry the load of said connectors and their cables. That approach is clearly expensive in terms of manpower, gives rise to a loss of time and can be dangerous when large powers are involved needing connectors and cables that are heavy and bulky. In order to solve that difficulty, a first solution, as described in patent application Ser. No. 89/06863 filed on May 25, 1989, relates to using a system for supporting the connector and the cables by means of a traveling gantry extending over the ship and thus making handling easier. A second solution, as described in patent application Ser. No. 09/02725, filed on Jun. 5, 2009, relates to using a system on board the ship for lifting and guiding the connector over the quay, the system being completely mechanized. That approach eliminates direct handling of connectors and cables by the crew, but it requires guidance mechanisms and contact protection at the connector and the outlet that are complex and thus simultaneously expensive, bulky, and not very reliable.
To understand the state of the art in this field, reference may usefully be made to the article “Courant de quai: la fête d'Amp ère” [Quay-side electricity: Ampere's quay] published in the journal “Navires et marine marchande” [Ships and merchant shipping] in July 2013. The object of the present application is thus to present a novel solution for reducing the size and the complexity of systems for making a connection between a movable object and the fixed network.